Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Paper

Introduction

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) which is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease is a rapidly progressive neurological disease that attacks the nerve cells (neurons) in charge of controlling voluntary muscles in the body. The disease is classified to a group of disorders known as motor neuron diseases. Lou Gehrig’s disease causes weakness with a broad assortment of disabilities that eventually cause all muscles under voluntary control to be affected. The patient will eventually lose their strength and not have the ability to move their arms, legs, or any other body part. When muscles in the diaphragm and chest wall fail, patients lose the ability to breathe without a ventilator for support. Most people with ALS die from respiratory failure, usually within 3 to 5 years from the onset of symptoms. However, about 10 percent of ALS patients

Normally this disease strikes between the ages of 40-60 (Medicine.net). Someone with this disease only has a short time left and will need to consider options for help with medical care as well as making any final arrangements for yourself and your family.

Body

A person with Lou Gehrig’s disease will have to face many challenging situations, their families will need to be involved in the decision making process for treatment and advanced directives for end of life. The medical manifestations of Lou Gehrig’s disease are progressive motor weakness and muscle atrophy. ALS Patients generally maintain intellectual ability and mental competence until late in the course of the disease then degenerative loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord and muscles commonly leads to quadriplegia and dependence on others such as family, friends or assisted living facilities for support of daily living. ALS also leads to the loss of the ability to speak and swallow caused by progressive motor weakness of throat and facial muscles. The median duration of this invariably fatal disease from the time of diagnosis to time of death is